The Rundown on Batman #44
By Skip Harvey
Today is new comics day and on of the highlights of this week’s haul is Scott Snyder and Jock’s Batman #44!
Both of them sat down to talk about the bold new issue, the new villain Mr. Bloom and diving into what Batman means to the people of Gotham.
"Snyder: This [issue] is almost the beating heart of the arc. It’s an issue that both introduces the villain and shows what he is about, but for me it cuts to the core of what’s scary about Bloom and what’s hopeful about Gordon — even though it’s a Bruce story."
Batman #44 addresses the street level of Gotham, including the disaffected youth of the city and why an often cruel, corrupt police department makes Batman necessary. It feels a lot more like an episode of The Wire, which is what we all wanted out of Gotham. This approach is what drew Jock to the project.
"This issue does have a very different feel to the main arc and [to] what Scott and Greg [Capullo] have been doing. I knew that hopefully I could do the material justice.The [artistic] approach that I have lends itself to the more kind of reality-based stories — the grimmer, the grittier and, particularly with this issue, dealing with an element of gangs and urban culture, I love doing that stuff."
"Snyder: With this issue, I know that it touches on things that are pretty contemporary right now in the news. I know Batman is a place that we go for escape and entertainment. But honestly, the stuff that I’ve always enjoyed the most, and what we’ve tried to do with Batman on my run with Greg in general, has tried to sort of speak to what’s going on now and why Batman matters in different ways."
The book feels more grown up for the Batman scribe. Something I wanted from him when he took the book over after his Swamp Thing run. I love the superhero-action thing, but there’s something important about the grounded nature of Batman. This feels more like going back to his roots.
"For this issue, I really felt like, instead of doing it in a way that’s more veiled, just go straight for it. Batman, he’s starting out, it’s his early years and he’s coming face to face with problems that are much larger than himself. We wanted to go centrally into issues like police brutality, the stratification of wealth in a place like Gotham, political corruption."
"The issue isn’t meant to focus on any one issue more than the other, even though some of them are in the news now. It’s meant to be a story about a kid who, everywhere he looks, sees nothing but hopelessness. He sees no way out of the situation he’s in, and everyone he goes to for help lets him down in tremendous ways. And that includes Bruce Wayne."
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"It’s meant to be both resonant and be in dialogue with things that are happening now in contemporary America and in a larger way when it comes to Superheavy as an arc, about why Batman matters in today’s world."
Batman #44 is on shelves now.
Via: The Washington Post
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